The Missing Cupcake
by runyoubadwolf
Summary: Marichat May Day 24 - "I Owe You One": When Marinette jokes with Chat about her feeding him so much, he decides to bring her cupcakes. He also finds it to be the perfect opportunity to ask her something he'd been wanting to for awhile.


"Thanks Marinette." Chat's voice was muffled as he spoke around the half of a croissant he'd stuffed in his mouth. If Marinette wasn't so used to interpreting him with his mouth full she would have never understood what he'd said. A moment more of chewing the pastry then Chat continued after gulping it down. "I definitely owe you one."

Marinette scoffed. "One? Talk about dozens. I knew that feeding strays made them keep coming back but I did it anyway." She sighed in mock frustration. "At least you're cute." When Marinette saw a blush appear just below Chat's mask, she smirked. Over time Marinette had learned that Chat could dish out the flirting, but he couldn't take it. Making him flustered was one of her favorite things.

"Well, um, I, uh." Chat shoved the rest of the croissant in his mouth to avoid responding, making Marinette laugh. Chewing the second half of his croissant gave Chat enough time to come up with a comeback. "I'm not a stray anymore Marinette. I'm yours forever and always."

It was Marinette's turn to blush. There were times when Chat sounded so sincere when saying things that she could let herself believe he meant it, if only for a moment. "If you really meant that then the bakery would be out of business within a year. We wouldn't have any product to sell." Marinette stuck her tongue out at him. When she saw a look of confusion and hurt flash across his face, she knew the joking was over. "Hey, I was only kidding Chat, you know I don't care about how much you eat while you're here."

Chat's gloved hand reached up to rub at the back of his neck while he chuckled. The laugh almost sounded nervous to Marinette's ears. "Y-yeah, we're a pair of jokesters. Both of us completely joking. No truth behind our words at all." He let out another nervous chuckle then quickly changed the subject when Marinette looked at him in confusion. "Anyway, I'll be sure to return the favor Princess! How about cupcakes?"

His voice was a little too bright but Marinette let the topic move on. "Kitty, you don't have to do that. I live in a bakery so the sweets I feed you are no problem. I don't want you going out of your way to bring me anything."

"Nonsense princess, I want to do this." Chat's eyes widened as they typically did when he believed he'd just come up with a fantastic idea. "Plus, I think this might be the perfect way to do something I've been wanting to for a while." The resolve she saw on Chat's face was one Marinette had only ever seen during akuma fights. She was quite confused as to why it was showing up right then, since they were talking about cupcakes. "Anyway, I have a plan to form now, I should be going. Goodnight my princess."

My princess. He'd never called her that before. By the time Marinette was able to slow her heart rate and form coherent thoughts again, Chat was already gone. Marinette sighed, his wording probably didn't mean anything. She climbed back into her room to get ready for bed, trying not to think about how nice it'd be if Chat called her his princess more often.

The following school day was a strange one. All day Adrien slipped cake into all their conversations. When their little group of friends was chatting before class, when the four of them went to Marinette's for lunch, and he'd even straight up asked Marinette what her favorite kind of cake was at the end of the day. She found it odd the two most important boys in her life were acting strange.

Marinette soon forgot Adrien's weird behavior when an akuma attacked after school. It was one of the quicker fights Ladybug and Chat had with a very easily obtained item. The two heroes shared their celebratory fist bump. "I'd love to stay and chat Ladybug, but I have something to deliver to my princess in her tower. Wish me luck!"

Not knowing when Chat would arrive, Marinette raced home and flew through her trap door onto her bed. His words hit her after she let her transformation drop. "Oh my god, Tikki, he referred to me as his princess to Ladybug. What do you think that means?" Before the kwami could answer there was tapping at Marinette's window.

She opened the door to her balcony quickly. There was no cat boy in sight, only a pink box resting on her little outdoor table. Marinette climbed the rest of the way onto her balcony with a frown on her face, she thought he'd at least give them to her in person.

Marinette gasped when she opened the lid of the box to view its contents. The box held eight of her favorite cupcakes, red velvet, and each had a word written on it. Marinette squealed and quickly scooped the box into her arms, rushing back down to her room. "Tikki, I know what he means! Look!"

Tikki let out a squeal of her own when the small god read the words 'will you go out with me' scrawled across six of the eight cupcakes. "I kept telling you he liked you too Marinette!" Tikki giggled when she noticed the empty space where a ninth cupcake should have sat. "Looks like Chat Noir might have gotten a little hungry on his way over though."

"I'm not surprised, that boy likes his sweets." Marinette chewed at the corner of her bottom lip. "Why did he leave though? Wouldn't he want an answer? What if he's just joking or something?"

Tikki flew right into Marinette's face, tapping the girl on the nose. "Stop it. I'm not letting you travel any farther down that path. Chat obviously likes you, the boy spelled it out in cupcakes for kwami's sake! He probably left to let you think over the answer since dating a superhero is a big deal."

Marinette nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right. I'm going to say yes Tikki, and I'm going to tell him I'm Ladybug. If we're entering into a relationship he deserves to know." There was resilience in Marinette's voice and Tikki knew there would be no changing the girl's mind even if the little god had wanted to.

Patrol was scheduled for the next night, that was when she'd tell him. It was all she could think about. She was contemplating how he'd take the news as she did her homework. She was worrying about whether she should have told him sooner as she got ready for bed. She was trying to figure out a way how to reveal her identity to him when she sat down in her seat before class.

She was so engrossed in her thoughts that nothing in the classroom registered until a small pink box was slid into her line of sight where is rested on the table. Marinette looked up to see Adrien draw his hand back, a blush dusting his cheeks.

The box was so similar to the one Chat had delivered her cupcakes in. Marinette pulled the box closer and opened it to view it's contents. It was a red velvet cupcake with a question mark design on the top, the missing ninth cupcake. Blue eyes shot up to look at green. "So, what do you say my princess?"

Marinette was up out of her chair and launching herself to hug him before Adrien could even blink. "Of course, I'll go out with you, my minou." With Marinette right next to Adrien's ear, she had the perfect opportunity to confess. She'd been agonizing over nothing. "I expect us to discuss date ideas on patrol tonight kitty."

At her words, Adrien pulled her away from him by the shoulders, his gaze full of wonder. "My lady?" When Marinette nodded her head, Adrien crushed her lips to his. They could hear Alya and Nino questioning them, but neither cared in that moment.


End file.
